1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and a terminal arrangement member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-294210 discloses a connector that uses a press-fit terminal in connection with a substrate. The press-fit terminal has a substrate connection part and a press-fit portion bulges from the substrate connection part. The press-fit portions can be press-fit into the through-holes of the substrate to connect the connector electrically to the substrate without soldering. In this conventional art, a terminal arrangement member is mounted on the substrate connection part of each press-fit terminal for adjusting the alignment of the press-fit terminals. Positioning holes are formed through the terminal arrangement member in correspondence to the press-fit terminals. A front end of each press-fit terminal is inserted into the corresponding positioning hole to place the press-fit terminals in position.
The press-fit portion must pass through the positioning hole and expand the positioning hole before the press-fit portion of each press-fit terminal is inserted into the corresponding through-hole of the substrate. However, the terminal arrangement member is a flat synthetic resin plate having a thickness of about 1mm and generates a high resistance in the operation of expanding the positioning hole. Thus, the press-fit terminal is liable to be deformed.
A terminal arrangement member of a thin resin sheet would exert less resistance on the press-fit terminal. However, there is a fear that the peripheral portion of the positioning hole will be brought into the through-hole when the press-fit portion passes through the positioning hole. As a result, the terminal arrangement member could be interposed between a conductive portion of the through-hole and the press-fit portion, with an adverse effect on the electrical conductivity between the terminal and the substrate.
The invention has been completed in view of the above-described situation and an object of the invention to provide a connector and a terminal arrangement member that allow a press-fit terminal to be mounted on a substrate while an operation of placing the press-fit terminal in position is being performed.